Curtain having a self-contained shirring arrangement

ABSTRACT

A curtain having an integral tie-back arrangement includes a piece of flexible material, part of which is fixed to the curtain for providing a channel from one of its vertical edges to the other of its vertical edges. An elongated flexible member which extends through the channel is fixed at one end to one of the vertical edges. As a result, if the free end of the elongated flexible member is pulled, the curtain is shirred along its width. The flexible material supports a device having a circular loop and an S-shaped section to which the elongated flexible member may be frictionally tied so as to support the shirred curtain. After the curtain is hung, the loop may be coupled to a nail on its window, thereby supporting the tie-back arrangement.

limited States Patent [191 ilelmberg et ai.

[451 Aug. 28, 1973 1 CURTAIN HAVING A SELF-CONTAINED SHIRRINGARRANGEMENT [75] Inventors: Eli Heimberg, North Dartmouth,

Mass.; Marvin Rosenberg, New

York, N.Y.

[73] Assignee: Cameo Curtains, Inc., New York,

[22] Filed: May 12, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 252,681

Primary Examiner-Peter M. Caun Attorney-Alan H. Levine [5 7 ABSTRACT Acurtain having an integral tie-back arrangement includes a piece offlexible material, part of which is fixed to the curtain for providing achannel from one of its vertical edges to the other of its verticaledges. An elongated flexible member which extends through the channel isfixed at one end to one of the vertical edges. As a result, if the freeend of the elongated flexible member is pulled, the curtain is shirredalong its width. The flexible material supports a device having acircular loop and an S-shaped section to which the elongated flexiblemember may be frictionally tied so as to support the shirred curtain.After the curtain is hung, the loop may be coupled to a nail on itswindow, thereby supporting the tie-back arrangement.

9 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures CURTAIN HAVING A SELF-CONTAINED SIIIRRINGARRANGEMENT The subject invention relates generally to window curtainsand draperies, and in particular to a curtain or drapery provided withan improved tie-back arrangement which forms an integral part of thecurtain. Although the invention relates to both curtains and draperies,for convenience only the term curtain will be used below.

The conventional tie-back consists of a strip of material which isdoubled upon itself to form a loop within which the curtain is gathered,and the ends of this strip are provided with loops or similar fasteningmeans whereby they may be secured to the wall or window frame adjacentthe curtain. Such an arrangement has a number of disadvantages. Forexample, since the tieback is of fixed length the gathered or shirredportion of the curtain is of invariable size; and since the tieback isengaged around the entire width of the curtain the neatness andregularity of the shirring, and the graceful contour of the curtain as awhole, is difficult to control. Furthermore, the shirred portion is notselfretaining, and the gathered folds of the curtain do not always stayput. Also, since the tie-back is a separate member, it may easily becomelost, and, in fact, it is very'frequently lost during the handling ofthe curtain in the retail store, or during subsequent launderingoperations.

To overcome some of the disadvantages of the conventional tie-back,manufacturers of light weight window curtains of the cottage type have,as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,301,081, replaced the tie-back with achannel in each curtain and a draw string in each channel, the drawstring being fastened at one end to a vertical edge of the curtain. Withsuch an arrangement, when the string is drawn, the friction between thedraw string and its associated curtain serves to retain the resultingfolds in place, thereby eliminating the need for a conventionaltie-back. However, this arrangement has not been useful with heaviercurtains because when they are hung their inherent weight has beensufficient to overcome the retaining frictional forces unless the otherend of their draw string is secured to, for example, the windowassociated with each curtain.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved curtainconstruction in which the tie-back arrangement is formed as an integralpart of the curtain, and in which the desired draping of the curtain toany desired extent may be effected without any contrivances extraneousto the curtain itself.

It is another object of the invention to provide a tieback arrangementwhich permits adjustment of the curtain to obtain a shirring that isevenly distributed along the extent of the tie-back, and which isself-retaining once the desired adjustment has been effected.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a curtainconstruction in which the adjustment of the tie-back to attain thedesired effect may be carried out by even the most unskilled person.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a curtainhaving an elongated flexible member for shirring the curtain and adevice to which the elongated flexible member can be attached at variouspoints along its length so as to hold the folds of the shirred curtainin place.

Among the advantages of the present invention are: The extremesimplicity of structure of the combined curtain and tie-back, wherebyits cost of manufacture is no greater, and may even be less, than thecost of a curtain and a separate tie-back arrangement; its selfretainingcharacteristics; its neatness and attractiveness; and the ease withwhich the curtain may be in stalled and adjusted.

The above mentioned and other objects and features of this inventionwill become apparent by reference to the following description inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. I is a perspective view of a pleated curtain having an integraltie-back arrangement, according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary view of the tie-back arrangement, its lockingmembers being shown disengaged;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view of the tie-back arrangement, its lockingmembers being shown engaged;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of the tie-backarrangement, taken along line 4-4 in FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of the tie-backarrangement, taken along line 5-5 in FIG. 1, showing the tie-backarrangement connected to a wall by a nail.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a tie-back arrangement chosen to illustratethe present invention includes, in

general, a strip of flexible material 10 sewn onto the curtain 11 so asto provide a channel (not shown) from one of the vertical edges 12 ofthe curtain II to the other vertical edge 13 of the curtain, the stripof material 10 extending past the vertical side 13 of the curtain; anelongated flexible member 14 partly located in the channel and fixed atone end (not shown) to the vertical edge 12 of the curtain; and a device15, fixed by stitching 27 to the extending part of the strip of material10, to which the flexible member may be secured. In the tie-backarrangement, when the free end of the elongated flexible member 14 ispulled, the curtain is shirred as is shown, for example, in FIG. 1.Thereafter, the elongated flexible member 14 may be secured to thedevice 15 to hold the curtain folds in place. As shown in FIGS. 2, 3,and 5, the device 15 includes a section having a circular loop 17 whichmay be used to connect the tie-back arrangement to a nail l8 fixed to awall 21 thereby anchoring the lower portion of the curtain. It should benoted that whether or not the tieback is secured to a window frame thetie-back will perform its gathering function.

More particularly, the curtain 11 shown in FIG. 1 comprises a bodyportion in the form of a panel which may be made, for example, from anysuitable fabric. The curtain 11 includes a plurality of pleats 19 alongthe top part of the curtain 11 and, in addition, the vertical edge 12 isprovided with ornamental trimming 20.

The strip of flexible material 10, which may, for example, be made ofany conventional fabric, is caused to extend transversely across thebody portion of the curtain l 1, this strip being secured to the curtainalong its edges by means of stitching 22 thereby forming an elongatedpocket or channel. This pocket or channel is arranged at a slight angle,and is positioned substantially along the line of the ultimately desiredtie-back effect. Within this channel is positioned an elongated flexiblemember 14, shown in the form of a band or tape, although obviously itmay have other forms. The

member 14 serves as a drawing string to effect the gathering of thecurtain and serves further to secure the curtain to the device 15, saidmember being more fully described below. The flexible member 14 isunsecured within the pocket except at the inner end thereof, i.e., atthe vertical edge 12 of the curtain l l, and this securing may beconventionally effected by the same stitching that secures the trimming20 to the body portion of the curtain.

The elongated flexible member 14 is of such a length that its rear endportion normally protrudes out of the rear end of the pocket or channel(see FIG. 2). By pulling on this free end of the elongated flexiblemember 14, the strip and the adjacent portions of the curtain 11 aregathered or shirred as is shown in FIG. 1. This results in the formationof folds that are rather evenly spaced. The frictional interengagementbetween these folds and the elongated flexible member 14 produces apartially self-retaining shirred effect, distributed along the entirelength of the engaged portion of the elongated flexible member 14.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the device 15 is a unitary structure which,for example, may be a stamping. If FIGS. 2 and 3 are rotated 90'counterclockwise, it may be seen that the device 15 includes asquared-S-shaped section 24, the right side part of the lower loop ofthe S-shaped section having an extension 25 in the direction of thestarting point of the S-shape and two extensions 26 from the top part ofthe S-shaped section 24 which support a connector shaped like a circularloop 17. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the top part of the S- shapedsection 24 is sewn with thread 27 to the backside of the flexible stripof material 10 which extends past the vertical edge 13 of the curtain.The device 15 is sewn to the flexible strip 10 such that the top part ofthe S-shaped section 24 is transverse to and along the longitudinal axisof symmetry of the flexible strip of material 10, the circular loop 17is nearest the end edge of the flexible strip 10, and the S-shapedsection 24 is closest the elongated flexible member 14.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the elongated flexible member 14 may be tiedto the device 15. The tie is achieved by causing the elongated flexiblemember extending from the channel to pass under the device 15, throughthe upper loop of the S-shaped segment 24, and then through the lowerloop of the S-shaped section 24, thereby causing the elongated flexiblemember 14 to form a loop about the center segment of the S- shapedsection 24 and to abut against itself. The extension 25 serves as a stopwhich prevents the loop of the tie from slipping away from the centersegment. The abutment creates a frictional force which enables theelongated flexible member 14 to support the force applied to theelongated flexible member by the shirred curtain without slipping withrespect to the device 15. Thus, when a curtain according to theinvention is hung, the frictional interengagement between the folds andthe elongated flexible member 14 of a shirred curtain, and thefrictional force provided by the abutment insure that a shirred curtainwill remain as such.

Although the thread 27 is shown sewed around the top part of S-shapedsection 24, it could instead be sewn around the portion of loop 17between extensions 26.

In use, the curtain 11, after being hung (see FIG. 1), will be adjustedby means of drawing the elongated flexible member 14 until the desiredeffect is obtained,

after which the flexible member l4 may be secured to the device 15 (seeFIGS. 3 and 4). In order to keep the curtain II in a relatively fixedposition, the loop 17 of the device 15 may be hung on a nail I8 fixed toa window frame or its immediately adjacent wall 21 (see FIG. 5). If freehanging of the curtain is desired, the securing of the device 15 to awindow frame or wall may be dispensed with while the gathering isnevertheless retained.

Thus, it may be seen that the invention provides a curtain wherein thefolds produced when the curtain is shirred are securely held in place,by means carried by the curtain itself, thereby providing stableornamental effects.

In view of the foregoing, it is to be understood that the descriptionherein of a preferred embodiment according to the invention is set forthas an example thereof and is not to be construed or interpreted as alimitation on the claims which follow and define the invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A curtain having an integral tie-back arrangement, comprising:

a. a piece of flexible material, part of the piece of flexible materialbeing fixed to the curtain to provide a channel;

b. an elongated flexible member partly located in the channel and fixedat substantially one point to the curtain, whereby if part of theelongated flexible member in the channel is pulled out of the channelthe curtain is shirred; and

c. a device carried by the piece of flexible material to which theelongated flexible member can be attached at various points along itslength, thereby holding the folds of the shirred curtain in any desiredposition of adjustment.

2. A curtain as defined in claim I wherein each end of the channelterminates at an edge of the curtain.

3. A curtain as defined in claim I wherein one end of the elongatedflexible member is fixed to the curtain at one of its edges so that ifpart of the elongated flexible member in the channel is pulled out ofthe channel the total width of the curtain is shirred.

4. A curtain as defined in claim I wherein the device includes a sectionto which the elongated member may be frictionally attached.

5. A curtain as defined in claim 4 wherein the device includes connectormeans by which the tie-back arrangement may be supported.

6. A curtain as defined in claim 4 wherein the section is an S-shapedsection.

7. A curtain as defined in claim 6 wherein the S- shaped section is sewnto the piece of flexible material.

8. A curtain as defined in claim 7 wherein the device includes a loop bywhich the tie-back arrangement may be supported.

9. A curtain as defined in claim 1 wherein the device is a unitarystructure comprising: a support loop by which the tie-back arrangementmay be supported, an S-shaped section having a lower loop and an upperloop having two spaced apart extensions connected to the support loop;and wherein a part of the device between the spaced apart extensions issewn to the piece of flexible material, whereby when the flexible memberis passed through the upper loop and then through the lower loop saidflexible member will be frictionally retained in place.

1. A curtain having an integral tie-back arrangement, comprising: a. apiece of flexible material, part of the piece of flexible material beingfixed to the curtain to provide a channel; b. an elongated flexiblemember partly located in the channel and fixed at substantially onepoint to the curtain, whereby if part of the elongated flexible memberin the channel is pulled out of the channel the curtain is shirred; andc. a device carried by the piece of flexible material to which theelongated flexible member can be attached at various points along itslength, thereby holding the folds of the shirred curtain in any desiredposition of adjustment.
 2. A curtain as defined in claim 1 wherein eachend of the channel terminates at an edge of the curtain.
 3. A curtain asdefined in claim 1 wherein one end of the elongated flexible member isfixed to the curtain at one of its edges so that if part of theelongated flexible member in the channel is pulled out of the channelthe total width of the curtain is shirred.
 4. A curtain as defined inclaim 1 wherein the device includes a section to which the elongatedmember may be frictionally attached.
 5. A curtain as defined in claim 4wherein the device includes connector means by which the tie-backarrangement may be supported.
 6. A curtain as defined in claim 4 whereinthe section is an S-shaped section.
 7. A curtain as defined in claim 6wherein the S-shaped section is sewn to the piece of flexible material.8. A curtain as defined in claim 7 wherein the device includes a loop bywhich the tie-back arrangement may be supported.
 9. A curtain as definedin claim 1 wherein the device is a unitary structure comprising: asupport loop by which the tie-back arrangement may be supported, anS-shaped section having a lower loop and an upper loop having two spacedapart extensions connected to the support loop; and wherein a part ofthe device between the spaced apart extensions is sewn to the piece offlexible material, whereby when the flexible member is passed throughthe upper loop and then through the lower loop said flexible member willbe frictionally retained in place.